Secular Buddhism

In this episode, I explore what death has to teach us about being fully alive, prompted by the recent death of mountaineer Nirmal "Nims" Purja in an avalanche in Pakistan. Starting with Richard Dawkins' reminder that "we are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones," I reflect on why there is nothing ordinary about an ordinary life — and why so many of us still leave the winning lottery ticket of being alive sitting in a drawer. I share the Buddha's teaching on mindfulness of death, where only the monks practicing at the timescale of a single mouthful or a single breath are called truly awake, along with the five remembrances, the Pali words samvega (the jolt when mortality gets real) and pasada (the settled confidence that the jolt can become a path), and the bardo teaching from The Tibetan Book of the Dead that we are dying and being born in every moment. Ultimately, I suggest the audacity to live isn't about risk but about honesty — living a life true to yourself, the thing Bronnie Ware's dying patients regretted missing most — and about a legacy measured not in accomplishments but in leaving people better than we found them. The invitation this week: once a day, pause and remember, "I will die, and I don't know when," and notice what that does to the next ten minutes of your life.Explore more at eightfoldpath.com: full transcripts, guided meditations, courses, and Noah AI, an AI you can chat with about any episode or teaching. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I explore the concept of holding two things at once, a practice that has become central to my own experience, especially during a recent personal transition. I discuss how we're often conditioned to assign a single emotional label to any given moment, leading us to suppress or feel guilty about other valid feelings that arise simultaneously. The core teaching is that life, in its most meaningful moments, is rarely simple and often involves a complex interplay of emotions and experiences, such as joy and grief, or love and resentment. Key takeaways include recognizing that our "story" layer often simplifies experience, while the raw experience itself is multifaceted, and that every moment is both a first and a last, making it precious. This practice is relevant to navigating life's complexities, from personal relationships and major life events to our own self-perception, by allowing us to be fully present to complicated moments without needing them to be anything else.Explore more at eightfoldpath.com: full transcripts, guided meditations, courses, and Noah AI, an AI you can chat with about any episode or teaching. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.